


Gliding on Ice

by arsistiel, WarmthOfRain



Series: The Mishaps with Kids. [2]
Category: Shadowhunters (TV), The Mortal Instruments Series - Cassandra Clare
Genre: A little, A lot of family fluff, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Attempt at Humor, Because no one hurts Rafe's little brother, Blow Jobs, Bottom Alec Lightwood, Brother Feels, Brotherly Affection, Canon Compliant, Cuddling, Cuddling & Snuggling, Domestic Fluff, Established Relationship, Family Bonding, Family Feels, Family Fluff, Fluff, Fluff and Crack, Fluff and Humor, Fluff and Smut, Hair-pulling, Ice Skating, M/M, Married Magnus Bane/Alec Lightwood, Parents Magnus Bane/Alec Lightwood, Post-Canon, Protective Older Brothers, Public Blow Jobs, Quickies, They're in a public washroom tbh, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, Top Magnus Bane, We don't know what happened, in the washroom, it kinda just... poofed, this was supposed to be a clean fic we swear, yee
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-06
Updated: 2020-11-06
Packaged: 2021-03-08 19:21:05
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 10,417
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27401887
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/arsistiel/pseuds/arsistiel, https://archiveofourown.org/users/WarmthOfRain/pseuds/WarmthOfRain
Summary: it's Max's 17th Birthday and the Lightwood Banes go to a mundane ice skating rink. Chaos, races, meet-cutes and maybe a quickie in the washroom while the kids are distracted...?
Relationships: Magnus Bane & Alec Lightwood & Max Lightwood-Bane & Rafael Lightwood-Bane, Magnus Bane/Alec Lightwood, Max Lightwood-Bane & Rafael Lightwood-Bane, Max Lightwood-Bane/Original Male Character(s)
Series: The Mishaps with Kids. [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1890589
Comments: 14
Kudos: 120





	Gliding on Ice

“We’re going to the skating rink and I will not be taking any criticism,” Max says, crossing his arms above his chest as he stands in front of his parents - who are curled up on the couch together, with Alec still snoring.

“I suggested the mundane shooting range but whatever,” Rafe replies from the kitchen, where he is making coffee for himself.

Max gestures towards Rafe with his index finger to shut his brother up. “Do _not._ It’s my birthday, my choice.”

It took him 3 days to decide where he’d like to spend his 17th birthday. It was either that or Magnus throwing a party for him and he’d rather spend all his birthdays alone than celebrate it at the Institute. Don’t get him wrong, he loves his aunts and uncles but he’d rather not get embarrassed in front of all the new transfers - his family has a ritual of reminiscing about his childhood after the cake cutting, which includes passing around all of the most embarrassing stories of him.

“Do you even know _how_ to skate?” Rafe asks Max as he takes a sip from the cup, making a face, the coffee is clearly too hot to be consumed yet.

“Aunt Clary and I used to go to mundane skating rinks together when she babysat us, _you_ used to be there too, dude.” Max says and Rafe shrugs. 

“We can go anywhere you want, Blueberry.” Magnus murmurs against Alec’s shoulder, voice slightly muffled. He’s curled up to Alec’s side, his head on Alec’s shoulder as the shadowhunter sleeps with his head thrown back against the pillows.

Rafe shrugs, coming to sit on top of the counter and facing the living room. “I was just suggesting the shooting range so dad could take part too but whatever.”

“Did you mean - so dad and _you_ can hit the target every time and blow every mundane’s mind there while me and papa sit back and watch you both bask in the glory?” Max retorts, staring at Rafe. This had already happened last year, not that he didn’t appreciate his father and his brother being one of the best archers in the shadow world but he’d like to have a little attention to himself on _his_ birthday.

“Okay, no need to argue, kids.” Magnus cuts them off. “Rafa, it’s Max’s birthday so he gets to choose. We can go to the archery arena later.”

Rafe rolls his eyes. “Okay then, I just didn’t want you and dad breaking your backs in front of all those mundanes--”

“I’ll let you know that I’m a very fine skater,” Magnus deadpans.

“No magic or rune use on birthdays,” Rafe replies. “It’s your own rule.”

“You wound me, Rafael.” Magnus says, “I can skate perfectly fine with or _without_ magic.”

Rafael makes a sarcastic face which says _‘yeah yeah, sure’._ “What about dad, though?”

“Huh?” Alec suddenly flinches. “What?” he blinks his eyes open and looks at Rafe, trying to process his whereabouts.

“Good morning, love.” Magnus smiles, pressing a kiss on the side of his head as Alec yawns, rubbing his eyes.

Max clicks his tongue. “Listen, I haven’t gone to the ice rink in _ages._ We’re going there, or I’ll just go with Alan.” 

“I thought you broke up with that assho-” Rafe pauses, eyeing Alec who is opening his mouth to say the same old _‘language’_ , _“-butthole_ months ago”

“I did but we’re still…” Max hesitates, “Friends.”

Magnus raises his eyebrow. “Friends, huh?”

“He _is_ going to break your heart again and you’ll be all sulky and upset--”

“--Rafe,” Max stares at him, eyes warning.

“What? He doesn’t deserve you.” Rafael replies matter of factly, but Magnus looks at him and shakes his head, as if to stop Rafael from saying anything further.

“What’s--” Alec yawns, “--What’s going on?”

Max gives a small sigh as he explains his plan for his birthday one more time.

“I don’t even know why we’re here, this is so lame,” Rafe says as he laces up his skates expertly.

“Yeah, so lame,” Max mocks as he watches while Rafe stands on his skates, with a perfect balance.

Rafe rolls his eyes, and looks at his fathers beside him. Magnus sits there on the bench while Alec kneels down to tie the laces of his husband’s skates. “Are you guys coming?”

“Yeah, just a second,” Magnus replies when Alec finishes up tying the warlock’s laces. “Thank you, darling,” he smiles at Alec, who looks up at him. Magnus bends down to give him a kiss.

Max makes a face of disgust. “Can you guys go 2 minutes without kissing?”

“Someone had to help your papa.” Alec announces, sitting down on the bench besides Magnus.

“And dad, why aren't you wearing your skates yet?” Rafe asks.

“I’m perfectly fine here,”Alec mutters. “You guys go, have fun.”

Magnus hums, patting Alec’s back and smirking.

“Dad,” Max deadpans, “It’s my _birthday,_ we’re all going to have fun _together,”_ he says. “I chose this place for a reason, or we could’ve just gone to the archery arena.”

“Would’ve been much better,” Rafe lets out. 

“Rafe, stop disregarding your brother's choices,” Magnus says now. “Besides,” he has a smug smile on his face as he turns to Alec, “If you stay here, that could only mean one thing.” 

Alec stares at him, “What?

“That you can’t skate.” Magnus replies, victorious. He knows Alec can’t, he just likes to say it out loud because _everything_ is a competition for him.

Alec’s mouth forms a hard line as he glares at his husband. “That’s ridiculous. It could mean a number of things besides that.” 

“Someone’s getting all defensive, I see.” Magnus winks at him.

“Like what, though?” Max questions his dad. Alec’s face looks like he is trying to solve a math problem, probably trying to come up with any other excuse. “Dad,” he grins, “do you seriously not know how to skate?”

Rafe stifles in a snicker. “The Inquisitor of the Clave can’t _skate,”_ He says. “Well, he can’t walk without breaking 2 vases a week either so…”

“Obviously I can skate,” Alec cuts him off. “I just don’t want you all to feel bad because I’m a much better skater than all of you combined.”

Magnus raises his eyebrows and Max clicks his tongue. “Probably not a good thing to say,” Max says when Magnus smiles at his husband.

“We’ll just have to see then, won’t we?” he challenges, his hand stretching towards Alec in an invitation to take it.

“I’m good, Magnus. I don’t feel like skating today,” Alec tries again.

“Oh come on, dad, my birthday, my rules. Everyone’s skating today,” Max replies.

“Also, it won’t matter if you fall flat on your face. There are smaller kids here who will probably end up doing the same,” Rafe helpfully inserts and gets back a death glare from his dad. 

“I can skate!” Alec says, frustrated and a little bit childish. “but, I don’t want to right now,” he stands up. “So I’m just going to go and sit in the back--”

Max exchanges a look with Magnus, they sigh, before Magnus looks around to check if any mundane is watching them as he raises his hands and snaps his fingers. 

Alec yelps and almost falls down when he finds himself in ice skates. _“Magnus.”_

Max laughs out loud and Magnus catches Alec in his arms, Rafe shaking his head while watching them. Max is sure it's just a few minutes before his brother goes on to pretend that he has no relation with this family whatsoever. To be fair - they can be kind of embarrassing. 

“Great, so are we skating?” Rafe asks.

“No,” Alec says stubbornly. 

“Literally wearing skates, dad,” Max says, gesturing towards him.

Rafe clicks his tongue. “Raziel, just use your balance rune, Inquisitor of the friggin’ Clave.”

“By the Angel--” Alec says, holding on to Magnus with one of his hands as tries to stay upright, “I don’t need a balance rune.”

As soon as he finishes his sentence, he stumbles on the skates and almost falls down. The only thing that holds him up is Magnus, as he grabs him to balance Alec.

Reluctantly Alec reaches towards his back pocket of his pants to take the stele out, which is hard to do, while you’re trying not to fall down at the same time.

“Let me help you, darling,” Magnus says with a sly smirk and reaches for the stele himself.

Rafe and Max pointedly avert their eyes as Magnus moves his hand towards Alec’s pocket.

“Good, give it to me.” Alec says when Magnus has taken out the stele, deliberately slow in his actions.

“Blueberry, didn’t we have a rule?” Magnus now asks, almost innocent. He twirls the stele between his fingers.

Max smiles, realizing what Magnus was trying to say. “I believe we did. No magic, no runes.”

“You- you magicked the skates on me,” Alec stammers, giving them a look of betrayal.

“That rule only applies when you’re inside the rink.” Rafael joins in, arms crossed above his chest to look as uninterested as possible. 

Alec’s eyes go between the three. “Are you seriously ganging up on me?”

“Don’t look at me, I’m just stating facts.” Rafe replies swiftly as he opens the gate to the rink and skates onto it with such ease, that Max feels a little self-conscious.

Max’s good at skating, but he hasn’t done it in a while. He’s starting to regret his choices as Rafe skates backwards over the rink, clearly showing off.

Alec holds on to Magnus while he watches his son skate off with elegance. “Magnus, come on--” he says, “let me just…”

“Don’t break Blueberry’s heart, Alexander.” Magnus gives him a peck on the cheek, holding him up as Alec looks down at his feet. Alec can stand, he’s a shadowhunter so he has a good balance, with or without his runes, but he's just not… confident enough, afraid that he’ll end up making a fool out of himself in front of the mundanes and his kids.

“It isn’t that hard, dad.” Max tells him, standing up beside them.

“Alright, fine.” Alec finally says, determined.

“There’s the Alexander that I know.” says Magnus sweetly, helping him onto the ice. 

The second they are on the rink, Alec says _“No. I can’t do this.”_

There are a lot of people skating around them, most are families, but there are couples here and there, looking like they are having a good time. Alec’s face is the opposite of that. He looks like he would be anywhere but at the skating rink.

Alec leans all on his body weight onto Magnus as he steps in the rink, he can feel his skates glide on the ice. “Woah--”

“Remember when you practiced dancing for our wedding?” Magnus asks him, hands holding onto Alec so he can stay upright, “You did a great job, even though you have _two left feet.”_

“I’m not that bad,” Alec replies, eyes fixed down on his skates, trying to stay up. They are slipping forward on their own. 

“My point is,” Magnus says, his arm going around Alec’s waist, “that you did great back then. And you’ll do great now, you just need to focus.”

Alec doesn’t say anything, only huffs in response. 

“You’re going to handle him?” Max asks Magnus, trying out his skating abilities by pushing his feet forward, gliding them over the ice, little by little. 

“I don’t need to be handled.” Alec says as he not so gracefully stumbles over his own skates, almost falling down face first. 

Magnus just rolls his eyes, steadying him and looks over to Max, “Go on, skate with your brother. We’ll join you in a bit.” he says. “And we’re racing.”

“Only to lose,” Max calls out as he passes by them.

“Okay, what the fu- heck,” Alec says out loud, holding the railing on the short walls of the rink with his other hand which isn’t in Magnus’.

“Alright, here,” says Magnus, trying to show Alec how to move his legs.“Let’s start with small steps first, push your feet out in a ‘V’ formation.” He shifts his hand out of Alec’s just to place it on Alec’s hips, as he moves them forward.

“Okay,” Alec says after a few seconds, as he stumbles forward, “This isn’t so ba-” his skates clash with Magnus’ when he moves them a little too wide and they would’ve probably already fallen down a million times, if it weren’t for the warlock.

“Alright, Magnus, I may have lied.” Alec lets out, his grip on the railing tighter. “I can’t skate.” 

Magnus almost laughs. “I know darling. 23 years of marriage, I know.” and Alec makes a sound, cringing over how dumb that was to say.

Meanwhile, Max decides the skating rink is the safer option then staying there with his dads. His papa is determined to help his dad, who is flapping his arms in every direction like a gigantic, clumsy bird.

Rafe comes up to him, stopping just next to a wall and leans onto it, an amused glint in his eyes as he watches Max struggle a little bit.

“Need help, birthday-boy? I could just knock you over and be done with it.” Rafe says rather helpfully and Max waves him _the_ finger.

“Max, I saw that!” he can hear Alec yell from the distance.

Oh, sure. They don’t care if there’s a room full of people when they get gross, but they always see and hear whenever Max or Rafe curse or act even slightly other than polite and civil.

Rafe laughs and leaves Max to his own devices and the warlock steadies himself on the ice rink.

Max hopes to god that he will remember how to properly skate and not look like a fool on his birthday with one of those ‘supporters’ that kids usually need to skate. He does a few experimental slides first, feeling his legs wobble only a little, but then he starts to gain more confidence. He glances behind him, to see if their dads are coming over. 

Alec is holding onto the railing, as Magnus is trying to persuade him to let go, offering his own hand in support.

Of course, Max forgets that in order for him to not fall, he has to be looking ahead, which he isn’t doing and soon enough, he bumps into someone, making them both fall over on the cold and hard ice.

He groans out loud, falling on skates is painful, but his fall is cushioned by whoever was unfortunate enough to crash and fall down with him.

Behind him, Magnus is mummering to Alec to let go of the railing. Alec seems to disagree immensely. 

“Alexander, don’t you trust me?”

Alec gives him a weary look. “Hold on to me--”

“I always do,” Magnus smiles at him as Alec lets go, arm flying out for balance, body leaning against Magnus’.

They don’t get far though, because Magnus chooses the exact moment - when Max falls down - to look over and say “Alexander, look!” before pointing and messing up their balance trying to get a better look at their son who is helping someone up.

But that’s not what sends them both flying onto the ice - it’s when Alec stares towards where Magnus is pointing and doesn’t look where he’s going. “What-” he starts, but the next thing they know, Alec is hitting the floor of the ice rink, and Magnus is falling on top of him, knocking the air out of his lungs.

“Well, that was graceful.” Magnus comments, staring down at Alec. He has a smirk on his face as Alec blinks up at him. The mundanes look at them as they skate around the pair.

“Shut up, it was your fault.”

Magnus lets out a laugh, and even though it isn’t the most comfortable position, he doesn’t move away just yet. “Are you complaining?” 

Magnus leans down and kisses the tip of his nose. Alec laughs at that, hands going around his husband's waist.

“By the Angel, you both.” They look up to find Rafe standing over their heads. “Are you okay?” He even sounds concerned for a moment and Magnus is about to comment on that, but then Rafe continues, “For Raziel’s sake, stop kissing and stand up.”

Just to spite their son, Magnus leans down and gives Alec a kiss. 

Rafael stares up at the ceiling in defeat. “How are you guys the leaders of the Shadow world?” he says, not bothering for an answer as Magnus and Alec both sit up, looking well. Rafe just shakes his head and skates away.

Magnus is now looking over the rink and Alec sees him look at something intently. 

“We should go over,” he says, and Alec sees his husband staring at Max, who has no idea what is going on behind him and looks like he’s struggling to talk to the guy in front of him. “Is that a shadowhunter with him?”

“Magnus, no.” Alec’s grip tightens on Magnus. “Let him be. We’ve probably already embarrassed Rafe to the point where he might erase the ‘Lightwood-Bane’ family name from his own.” 

“Oh, he loves us,” Magnus waves dismissive hand around

A girl, who looks about 14 or so, stops right next to them and when she asks “Hey, are you two okay?” they realize that they are still sitting on the ice and have been for about 10 minutes now.

“Yeah, we’re fine, thanks for asking.” Alec replies, reaching out to hold the railing again to stand up.

The one who pillows Max’s fall yelps out loud, grabbing him by the shoulders as if on instinct. “Woah--”

Max finds himself staring down at a pair of green eyes and a very, very freckled, tan face. After a moment, he realizes that the guy he knocked down probably asked him something, because he is looking up at him expectantly.

“I’m, what?” Max asks, slightly dazed.

The guy chuckles and Max realizes that there are hands still on his shoulders, holding on. “I love having cute boys on top of me but um… maybe not in the middle of a skating rink?” the guy says in an american - with a hint of french - accent.

Max can feel his face go red and heat up when the guy gives him a bright smile. 

“Right, sorry,” Max mumbles, trying to get off with the little grace he has left. When he feels confident on his skates again, he reaches his hand out to help the other boy up. 

The boy takes Max’s hand, maintaining eye contact, and pulls himself up. He then gives Max a smile, before running a hand through brown and very curly hair.

“New to skating?” The boy asks, and Max just stares at him for a moment. 

“Ugh, n-” Max clears his throat, noticing the faint tattoos- he’s sure they are runes poking out of the guy’s shirt collar. _A Shadowhunter?_ “No. I just, ugh, wasn’t paying attention. Sorry…”

“Ah,” the boy grins. “Well, I was kind of focused on--” his eyes dart behind Max, “--somewhere else. So, not your fault.”

Max turns and glances back where the guy is looking at. His dads are getting up from the ice, Magnus pulling Alec close to him, his hands going around his husband. 

“Ugh, right…” Max says. “On the Inquisitor?” he tries out, testing his theory.

The guy squints his eyes at him for a moment. “Yeah, I was, actually. It’s not everyday you see _The Lightwood-Banes_ skating _,”_ he is borderline squealing the name.

A fanboy, Max realizes.

“Right, _the Lightwood-Banes,”_ Max repeats, keeping his voice low. 

Freckles nods, “I’m Fill, shadowhunter,” the boy- no, Fill- introduces. “And you are?”

Max completely blanks out, Fill does not recognise him and from the corner of his eye he can see his dads making progress on skating as they try to do slow laps around the rink. There’s no way he can give Fill his real name.

“Ugh, warlock.” Max tells him.

“Right,” Fill smiles. “This is the part where you say your name.” He lets out a small chuckle, his eyes glinting with amusement.

And for an unexplainable reason, Max blurts out “Alex.” 

He mentally facepalms himself when Fill gives him an inquisitive look. “Is that… short for something?”

The only reasonable thing to do is to say ‘No’, so of course, Max replies with “Alexander.” 

Well, it’s a common name. Max hopes Fill lets this topic drop.

Fill grins. “Ah, you share a name with _the_ Inquisitor, huh?” 

Max gives out a nervous laugh. “What can I say…My parents were… they- they idolized him.”

“As they should.” He hears Fill mutter as he suddenly grabs the railing and then looks back at Max. “Not that it would do any good if I was paying attention. I’m kind of bad at this.” He points to his skates. 

“Oh, so is my-” Max stops himself, right before he says ‘his dad’, “Ugh, Alec, um, Mr. Lightwood-Bane, apparently.” He shuts up before he could ramble on. “I don’t know why I said that-- ugh, do you want help?”

Fill tilts his head a little bit, observing him,and Max can feel the blush creeping back up his neck to his cheeks. “Well, I don’t know. Will you be paying attention this time?”

Max definitely blushes at that. “Um.” he manages.

Fill gives a small laugh and then reaches out his hand. “I think it’s against the law to deny cute boys who are trying to teach you how to skate.”

Max moves towards him, unsure of how he should proceed and Fill’s flirtatious commentary aren’t helping, at all. 

But apparently, Fill has no problem with that, because he lets his hand go to Max’s arm, holding onto it while the other is still on the railing. “I think I need just a little bit of support here.”

Max blinks and then glances at him nervously. “I can just-” he snakes his hand around Fill’s waist to help hold him up and when the boy doesn’t protest, Max relaxes just a little bit. 

Max tries not to look at him too often, or they would definitely fall again. Fill seems to do better than Max’s dad, though, so at least they are not stumbling around. 

They make it across half of the rink when Rafe speeds past them, while giving Max finger guns and an _‘interesting boy toy’_ expression he always gives Max whenever Max finds himself a date.

Max tries to play it off, but watches as Fill's eyes follow him.

"D-Did Rafael Lightwood-Bane just--" Fill says, "Finger gun at _me?"_

"Ugh," says Max, "I think so."

Better than to admit that Rafe was actually doing it to Max himself.

Fill seems sort of excited now, eyes still following Rafe. "He is…" Fill starts, "...good looking." He turns to Max, " I wonder what Max Lightwood-Bane looks like, he isn't here, is he?"

Fill is craning his head, trying to scan the ice rink.

"I don't think so," Max replies quickly. "Um, what do you think he looks like?"

"Well, he is a _Lightwood-Bane."_ Fill says, "so probably drop-dead gorgeous, who knows?" Then sees Max's flushed face. "Though, I see someone else fitting that description, too."

Of course Max had to acquire his dad's awkwardness and inability to reply to flirtations out of all the things. 

Magnus is trying not so subtly to stare at their younger son, who seems to be _teaching_ another boy to skate.

“Magnus, stop being creepy.” Alec tells him, slowly getting the hang of at least putting one skate ahead of the other.

“Excuse me,” Magnus says, mockingly hurt. "I’m never creepy. I’m just a concerned parent. And I’m not even looking at them, I’m looking at,” he waves his hand around, trying to come up with something, “Your beauty"

Alec rolls his eyes. “Nice try, my love.” 

“I find it highly insulting that you would doubt my words.” Magnus says, eyes clearly searching for Max again.

"Let him be, Magnus. It's his birthday." Alec replies. "I thought you were supposed to help me learn how to do this,” he points to the skates. 

Magnus trails his hand lower down Alec's back, and slides it inside Alec's back pocket. "I am helping you, aren't I?"

“More like distracting me.” Alec replies swiftly. “You’re a terrible teacher.”

Magnus’ hand goes to his chest as he acts wounded. “I can’t believe you would say that,” he replies. "You've been hurting my heart a lot today, Alexander. How shall you redeem yourself?"

When Alec gives him yet another roll of eyes, Magnus glares at him. “I can always leave you here and let Rafe teach you. Though, he will probably just stand and watch you embarrass yourself.” 

“Magnus, no.” Alec then says and Magnus clicks his tongue.

“Well?” Magnus asks, as if expecting something, an eyebrow raised.

Alec stops moving to pull Magnus closer to him and Magnus goes willingly, though he turns away when Alec is just about to kiss him.

“Magnus, come on.” Alec tells him, his lips going to Magnus’ cheek instead, when the warlock refuses to give him a kiss. “Why are you so stubborn?”

“Like someone else I know.” is the immediate response.

Alec leans onto the railing and pulls Magnus in again, so he has to stay in between his legs. It lets Alec push their bodies together, while also helping himself to stand upright and stay in balance. He moves his lips from Magnus’ cheek to his jawline instead. If Magnus won’t let Alec kiss him properly, then he’s just going to have to improvise. 

Alec’s hands are around Magnus, and the warlock is pushed flush against him while Alec’s lips slide from his jawline to his neck. For others, it looks like he's sweetly snuggling in and hugging him. Though, Magnus can feel Alec's lips starting to press against his skin.

“Alexander, this is a family-friendly place.” Magnus reminds him, but he tilts his head a little, to let the shadowhunter closer.

“It’s your fault, you’re the one denying me a kiss so I can ‘redeem’ myself.”

"No one wants to see this," Rafe swoops by them, making them pull apart.

They look up for a moment to find him skating _way_ away from them, while Max is now _holding_ the curly-haired guy from before.

“Looks like we’re not the only ones getting handsy.” Magnus comments.

“Magnus,” Alec says now with a slightly pained expression.

The warlock laughs as he pulls his husband back closer to him, one hand going back behind him to slide into his pocket.

"Do you want to redeem yourself in the washroom, maybe?" 

Alec pushes a little at Magnus' shoulders, nudging him away. "This is a family-friendly place, Magnus." He repeats.

“So, that’s a no?” Magnus pouts. They can hear Max and his… partner getting close to them, and the guy not too subtly looking at them and mumbling what sounds like "look, they're so adorable".

Magnus knows Alec always tries to ignore encounters like these, he just gets funnily awkward when someone recognizes them. He can see the moment Alec changes his mind.

“Well, I mean… Better in the washroom than out here.” Alec replies.

“I knew my husband was smart.” Magnus tells him, smiling brightly and Alec shoves his shoulder. 

"I'm hungry, fathers," Rafe swishes by them again. He's been doing that for a while now, just running laps all over the rink. Before either of them can comment on that, he’s gone again.

Magnus sighs, dropping his head on Alec's chest. "Are you hungry too?"

Alec raises an eyebrow at him. "Are you?"

Magnus looks up, and then discreetly squeezes his ass from where his hands are inside the shadowhunter's pocket. "I am, but not for food, at the moment."

"Magnus--" Alec groans out loud, pushing Magnus off him while Magnus laughs.

He then searches for Rafe and raises his arm up to stop him. "Rafael!"

Rafe comes to a halt next to them, finally stopping the laps. “What now?”

"What do you want to eat?" Alec asks him.

"Pasta, penne, red sauce, _sin maiz._ I don't care about Max. Get him his own," Alec gently smiles at the way Rafe still says it like he did when he was a teenager. It's something that lets him be Alec's _child,_ no matter that he's 19.

Alec nods, turning to search around for Max. He finds him leaning against the wall while talking to the guy, the guy's back is facing them so Alec can't see the shadowhunter's face.

Max catches his eyes, but disregards him. Alec frowns, snapping his fingers to catch Max's attention. Max just looks at him and squints his eyes in a way that says _"what?"_ To which Alec does a gesture of eating and Max just shakes his head in disagreement, going back to talk to the guy. Alec reads his lips saying, _"nothing, ugh, no one"_. Seems like he doesn't want to be interrupted.

“Let's just get him his favorite,” Magnus tells Alec, after he’s witnessed the small interaction between his husband and son. 

"Oi, papa." Rafe interrupts them before they can step out of the rink. "Leaving so early?" He says, a smug smile on his face, "changed your mind about racing, huh?"

Magnus first safely gets Alec off the rink and then swiftly turns around in a circle to look at Rafe. "Well, Max looks busy so I thought the race was off," he sees the way Rafe grins at him, eyes challenging, " But I guess not."

"3 laps, when I win I get to choose what we're watching for the next 2 movie nights"

" _If_ you win," Magnus replies, competitive. He hears Alec sigh behind him so he turns to give his husband a promising kiss. "I'll get done with this soon, then we can _continue_ in the washroom," he whispers, as he lightly snaps his fingers to place Alec's stele back in his pocket.

"Hurry up," Alec replies, going to sit on the bench and remove his skates. He has a little better balance than before.

Rafe eyes his papa as he skates towards him with elegance, to where Rafe imagined the starting line. “You know, it’s not as if I can’t guess what you two just said to each other. Please stop being so gross in public, it’s annoying.”

“Shut up and get ready to lose.” Magnus tells him, making sure they are both behind the imaginative starting line. "Mundanes getting in your way won't be counted as an excuse."

“Funny, I was just about to say the same to you,” Rafe retorts. "Also, extra points for whoever catches the conversation between Maxie and Curly, over there"

"Rafael, that’s not polite,” Magnus says, and then looks at the pair, before he reaches a hand to shake Rafe’s, “You’re on." 

Magnus and Rafe are both very competitive, so whenever there’s a situation even remotely resembling a competition, they take it very seriously.

They decide that they will start when the big clock on the wall shows exactly 5:32, knowing that the '3,2,1 go' system will result in one of them cheating and getting an early start.

_5:31:56_

_5:31:57_

_5:31:58_

Rafe is off already.

"Rafael, that's deceit," Magnus calls out, pacing behind Rafe

“Or maybe your eyesight just isn’t what it used to be!” Rafe calls back. His arms flailing from side to side in expert movements as he dodges the mundanes and glides over the ice. 

"I'll get you!" Magnus says back, speeding up his legs as he tries to catch up with Rafe. “The disrespect--" he mumbles.

They go around each other, skates even clinking at times during the first lap, trying to speed faster.

They catch words and a little conversation from Max and the curly guy as they speed past them. Max gives them a betrayed look when he sees them but doesn't really mind as the guy in front of him catches his attention again. 

After a lap, Rafe can see that his brother is most definitely blushing.

 _"We have a new transfer at my instit--"_ For a moment Rafe looks back at Magnus, who is still behind him by a few steps, doing an _'interesting'_ face when they hear it.

In the second lap, Magnus _finally_ speeds past Rafe, only to slow down again trying to save himself from bumping into a small mundane girl. Rafe gives him a "HA" as he takes over again. 

When they pass by Max again, the curly-haired guy is saying _"Ah, if the transfer is from France, then he's probably good at what he does."_ Rafe catches all of that because he's slowed down a little to listen more closely to the conversation.

Magnus takes it to his advantage though, and skates right past Rafe to take the lead again, now blocking Rafe so it's difficult for him to take over.

The third lap is crucial. Both, the father and the son, are focused on winning (and figuring out what's going on between Max and Curly). They're cut-to-cut, skates almost clanking again, Magnus is still leading. Rafe trying his best to win.

 _"So you share a birthday with a Lightwood-Ba-"_ they hear Curly say as they pass by them. It makes Rafe and Magnus both frown a little in confusion - but both of them are focused on the win.

Magnus grins as he nears the finish line, Rafe still behind him.

The warlock is sure that he’s already won, he can literally see himself cross the line.

But something, or someone, catches his eye and Magnus looks back at the side boards to see his husband.

Alec’s leaning over the railing, his arms bared because he’s rolled up the sweater he’s wearing to his elbows. He’s staring at Magnus, a smile on his lips and he brings his hands up to his chin to lean on them.

He trails a thumb along his lower lip while looking at Magnus with a raised eyebrow and just like that, Magnus’ pace slows down for a split second. 

And of course it’s enough for Rafe to race past him, just as they reach the finish line.

"Take that, sucker," Rafe does a spin instead of stopping and fist pumps the air enthusiastically. 

“I’m still your father,” Magnus chastises his son, but then sighs, defeated. “But a deal’s a deal.” 

"Thanks, dad." Rafe gives Alec a short two fingered salute as he skates towards him, seeing the pasta which is kept beside him on the bench.

“What did I do?” Alec asks as he picks the plate up to place it over the rink wall so Rafe can have it, while standing inside the rink. 

“You know damn well,” Magnus grumbles, coming up to him with a pout on his face. “I was winning.” 

“Or so he thought,” Rafe tells them. "That for Max?" He points at the lasagna, which Alec picks up next to keep on the rink wall.

Alec nods. "If he comes over--" He waves at Max and Max does the same thing he did before, he disregards him. "Why is he acting like he doesn't even know us?"

“I do that all the time,” Rafe deadpans. "I'm just going to go sit there and eat," he points at the bench inside the rink, at the corner. "I think he doesn't want Curly to know who he is. Just leave his lasagna here, I'll text him to pick it up," he pulls out his phone as he grabs his pasta plate with his other hand and skates away. 

Alec shakes his head at his son. “I thought you won the day you married me,” he says, picking up on what Magnus had said earlier, and dropping a kiss on his forehead.

“See, when you say things like that, it’s hard to stay mad at you,” says Magnus, allowing Alec to press a kiss on his lips as well. 

“It’s my secret weapon.” Alec replies, hand going to the back of Magnus’ head, pulling him closer.

“That’s cheating.” Magnus tells him, but leans in anyways, feeling Alec smile against his lips.

“I’m pretty sure there’s a punishment for that.” Alec replies, before he kisses him properly, but quickly. He pointedly nods behind him. 

It takes barely a minute before Alec’s lips are working on Magnus' neck and Magnus is slamming shut the door of the washroom stall behind them. 

Alec crowds Magnus and presses him against the door, Magnus' head leaning back as he tries his best not to let out any noise. His hands going to the back of Alec's neck and carding his fingers through the hair there.

"We have to make this quick, Alexander." Magnus breathes out, mouth falling open when Alec leans down to suck on his sweet spot. He can feel Alec's hard bulge rubbing against his thigh as he slots his leg between Alec's legs.

"I know," Alec murmurs against Magnus' skin as he lightly scratches his teeth along the side of Magnus' neck before biting down, making Magnus let out a moan, loud and clear. 

Alec, in response, brings a hand up to cover Magnus' mouth. "Shh," he looks up into Magnus' eyes, Magnus' cat eyes, as he shushes him, pressing a kiss on the back of his hand right where Magnus' lips are buried, before going back down on his neck. 

Magnus' eyes go wide when Alec presses his hand against his mouth, restricting any voice to come out. He feels himself getting hard in his pants at the gesture. Alec knows Magnus enjoys that, Alec getting a little authoritative, because usually Magnus is the one who takes control. 

Alec's other hand travels down to untuck Magnus' shirt from his skinny jeans, and sliding inside it, tracing Magnus' abs. His hand then goes lower and lower and halts at Magnus' belt buckle. He fumbles there, finding it difficult to open it with one hand.

Magnus grinds his erection all over Alec's thigh, reciprocating Alec's movements. Alec is still licking and sucking all over his neck and Magnus' grip tightens on his hair.

Magnus feels his phone vibrate in his pants, it’s been ringing for a while but he chooses to ignore it when Alec gives up trying to unbuckle his belt and goes on to directly cup Magnus through his pants, palming him and letting go of Magnus' mouth to try to tug Magnus' pants down a little with his other hand. Magnus lets out a gasp at the movement.

"Oh, for Lilith's sake--" Magnus says, placing his hands on Alec's shoulders and aggressively shoving him backwards, so that he forcefully sits down on the closed toilet seat. 

"Impatient," Alec grins as Magnus seats himself on Alec's lap and grinds against the shadowhunter. 

Magnus grabs Alec's hair and yanks his face up, wanting to meet his eyes. "I told you that we have to make this quick," he bends out and gives Alec a bruising kiss, Alec letting out a surprised gasp as his hands fly to Magnus' hips. 

Kisses are turning messy as they rub off of each other, they are both rock hard in their pants. Magnus knows that Alec is getting close by the way he keeps on gasping and thrusting his hips up. He doesn't really blame Alec for being on edge already. It's been a while since they've gotten a chance to do this - almost 2 weeks, to be exact - the shadow world and their kids have been a little time consuming since the past few days for them to do _anything._

 _"Magnus, Raziel-"_ Alec almost shouts, threatening to spill in his pants as if they were back in the first stages of their relationship.

Magnus pulls back at the exact moment, unstraddling his hips and standing. Alec looks up at him as he pants.

"Magnus?"

With a grin, Magnus is falling to his knees and pushing Alec's thighs apart, his hands sliding against the inner side of them.

Alec shivers when Magnus leans down, his mouth covering Alec’s clothed hard-on. He tries to form words, something that would stop Magnus from teasing him, but he can only let out low moans, when the warlock's hands move closer to his erection. 

But Magnus does have mercy on him, even though he would love to keep up the teasing. It’s not as if he is patient himself - he wants to make his husband feel good and that’s what he’ll do.

But still, Magnus’ fingers stop on Alec’s zipper and he looks up at his husband, seeing Alec’s lips parted and his hands in fists beside him. He waits for a second, and Alec gives him a pleading look.

“Magnus, please-” 

There it is, he got what he was after. Magnus slides Alec’s pants down along with his underwear and he doesn’t waste a lot of time - the sight of Alec has always been something he can’t resist.

He lets his tongue move in a very slow, languid movement, pressing it against Alec and the shadowhunter lets out a relieved sigh. 

Alec’s hands go into Magnus hair, when the warlock’s tongue does a swirling motion. Magnus’ hands are on Alec’s thighs, and when he takes Alec in his mouth, he grips his skin, causing Alec to let out a whimper. 

Magnus hums around him, the vibrations making Alec thrust up, but Magnus’ hands are on his thighs, pushing him down. 

His mouth slides effortlessly down on Alec and he knows, by the sounds his husband is making, that Alec’s there, he is right there.

And Magnus did say they’d have to be quick.

So he moves his head up again, sucking and when he goes back down, he lets Alec touch the back of his throat. When he swallows, Alec lets out a string of strangled curses, trying to buck his hips and Magnus can feel the warmth in his mouth, making himself twitch in his pants. 

He licks his lips when he comes back up, eyes on Alec’s. The shadowhunter is staring down on him, looking every bit of wrecked as Magnus hoped. 

With dazed eyes, Alec’s hands slide from Magnus’ hair to his chin, fingers moving under it and pulling Magnus towards him, meeting him half-way in a kiss. 

Their tongues meet and Alec can taste himself on Magnus’ tongue. He bites Mangus lip, before he pulls away, hands going to his pants. 

Magnus catches his wrists, with a glint in his eyes. “No, no. I’m thinking you can do some proper redeeming when we get back home.”

Alec eyes him, letting his head fall back. “After that? I’d do anything.”

Magnus wiggles his eyebrows, when Alec stands up, pulling him with and against his body. “Anything? I like the sound of that.”

Alec laughs, pressing a kiss onto Magnus’ lips, soft and lingering. “We need a reason to send the kids away.” Magnus then says.

“We have spells and runes for that.” Alec reminds him, but Magnus shakes his head. He has a mischievous look on when he leans over to bite at Alec’s earlobe.

“For what I have in mind, we definitely need the whole place to ourselves.” 

A few seconds later, as they hurriedly leave the stall, Alec hears a faint buzzing sound and he looks over to Magnus. “Magnus, your phone? Wait, is it the kids?” he asks, they’ve been in here for about 15 minutes and they didn’t _exactly_ tell their kids that they were leaving.

The warlock fishes it out quickly and shakes his head. “Isabelle.” he mouths, before he takes the call.

“By the Angel, where were you? I’ve been trying to get a hold of you for ages!” there’s a huffing sound and then Izzy says “Don’t answer that. Where’s Rafe though?” 

“Hello to you too, Isabelle.” Magnus replies, smiling as he looks over to Alec who is mouthing ‘what?’ at him. “We’re at the ice rink. Rafe and Max are over there now. Why?”

“Skating rink? Can my brother even skate?” Izzy asks now and Magnus lets out a small laugh. 

“Well,” he says, giving Alec a side eye. “A lot of stumbling around, but we made it work.”

Izzy snorts. “I would’ve paid good money to see Alec on an ice rink.”

“I bet all the Lightwoods would’ve.” Magnus tells her and Alec is now staring at him, thoroughly confused. The warlock waves him off. “What’s up?”

“Wait, Max isn’t anywhere near you, is he?” Izzy asks and Magnus lets his eyes go to the ice rink. They’ve walked out of the restrooms and were nearing the rink now.

When they reached the railing around the rink, Magnus could see Max and that curly-haired boy _still_ talking, forks in both of their hands and the lasagna, brought for Max, between them.

“As a matter of fact, no he isn’t. Hasn’t been all day, admittedly. He’s distracted.” Magnus tells Isabelle, knowing that she will start asking questions.

“What? Why? What’s going on?” Izzy says, but then “Wait, no, answer those later. Before I forget why I even called you.” 

Alec is making grabby hands at the phone now, like a child. “What’s she saying? I want to hear.”

Magnus rolls his eyes, putting her on speaker and resting the phone on the small table next to the rink, while Alec and Magnus take a seat on either side. 

“You’re on speaker, Iz.” Magnus tells her and Alec greets her as well. 

“Oh, hey, big bro. How did the skating go?” she teases and Magnus sees Alec glare at the phone.

“Better than your cooking,” Alec tells her and Magnus holds his laughter in.

“Ouch.” Izzy says, faking hurt. “As much as I would love to list all the things you’re shit at, I have important things to discuss. I want to throw my favorite nephew a surprise birthday party tomorrow at the Institute. Well, late birthday surprise party”

Alec and Magnus exchange a smile and then Magnus replies “Izzy, that’s very sweet of you” just as Alec says “Wait till Rafe hears who your _favorite nephew_ is”

“Oh, they know I love them both the same,” Izzy says, seemingly to Alec. “ And I know, Magnus, I’m the best aunt. What I need from you is to help me organize it, and by you I mean Magnus and Rafe.” Izzy replies swiftly.

“Hey, I can organize parties.” Alec tells her and Magnus raises an eyebrow at him.

Isabelle clicks her tongue. “Do we really want to have this debate right now?”

“What do you have in mind?” Magnus asks her, and Alec, who opens his mouth, closes it again, looking insulted.

“Well,” Izzy drawles, “He’s going to come to the Institute anyways, so there’s no problem with that. But I was thinking that since he likes to read those mundane comic books, mangoes or whatever, we could make that the theme.”

“Mangas?” Alec asks, leaning in to hear better and Magnus snickers.

“That’s what I said,” Isabelle tells them, as if it was obvious. 

“Right,” Magnus nods, though Alec looks like he wants to say something about that. “So, costumes? Decorations? Oh, cake?” 

Alec can hear Magnus getting excited, just like he always does whenever he organizes a party.

Izzy hums. “I was thinking, we can talk to Rafe first, he knows his brother better. Simon already has everything prepared though--”

 _“Clary can make the sketches.”_ A voice, Simon’s excited shriek, comes from the background.

“I’m sorry, what?” Magnus asks now, “What do you mean, _Simon already prepared everything_?”

“Oh, come on, you know how he gets with this nerd stuff.” Izzy tells them and Magnus rolls his eyes.

“We’ll tell Rafe to call you in a second, we can all decide what to do then, together.” Alec says, eyes going to where Rafe is skating around Max and Curly like a housefly around pie. He waves his hand, to get their son’s attention.

Rafe raises his eyebrows in question when he notices his dad. _“Where were you guys?”_ He mouths, doing a ‘what’ sign with his hands.

 _“your phone”_ Alec mouths, doing the ‘calling gesture’ with his hand, and Rafe frowns, taking his phone out of his pocket. Seems like he has just now seen the missed calls he’s gotten from Izzy.

Rafe skates to the side, leaning onto the wall as he dials her contact and Alec realizes they’re still on the call with Izzy.

“Wait, Rafa’s trying to call you, we’re gonna hang up now.” Magnus says to the phone on the table.

“Okay,” Izzy replies, “Will talk to you later then.”

“Mhm,” Magnus hums approvingly, hanging up, and sees Rafe finally dialing in the contact and calling Izzy. They can see Rafe talk and skate away from the two boys sitting down, probably so Max wouldn’t hear the conversation.

“It’s almost 7, should we go home?” Alec asks Magnus, who is directly looking at Max and Curly, they both are laughing.

“Looks like he had a good birthday,” Magnus says instead, smiling at the boys, looking a bit misty-eyed. Max’s face brightens up in a way, it has been a while Magnus has seen his boy this way with someone who isn’t his family.

“Magnus, are you about to cry?” Alec asks him, moving closer and wrapping his hand around Magnus’ waist.

“No,” Magnus protests calmly, waving his hand in a dramatic fashion. “He’s 17 already, he’s going to be 18 next year.” he says then, “he’ll probably move out, maybe live at an institute in some other place. This might be our last birthday with hi--”

“Magnus,” says Alec, voice soft, he knows his husband is spiraling again. Magnus did that a lot when Rafael was about to turn 18 - even though Rafe stayed - and they know that Max has no reason, or has never mentioned wanting to move on to another Institute. Magnus just tends to get a little emotional when it comes to his sons. “He’s fine. We’re fine.” 

Rafe chooses this moment to skate over and stop at the gate. “Why are you both looking like someone’s dog died?”

Magnus comes over to hug him from over the gate and Rafael waves his hands around. “Papa, what are you doing?”

“I just love you, so much.” Magnus tells him, still smothering Rafe and Alec can see the slight panic in Rafael’s eyes. 

“By the Angel, I can’t breathe.” Rafe says, but reluctantly lets Magnus hug him properly, his own hands going to Magnus’ back. 

Alec laughs, at the corner of his eyes, he can see Curly and Max’s eyes on them.

Magnus lets go of Rafe and steps back a little, to let him exit the rink. Rafe does so, eyeing Alec in great suspicion. “Are you going to hug me, too? Because I don’t think I’m mentally prepared for that. One was enough.”

Alec rolls his eyes and ignores his son’s protests as he hugs Rafe too, even though their embrace is shorter than Magnus’ was. 

“Okay, okay,” Rafe says when they pull back, though he has a small smile on his face. “Enough of this gooey shi-”

Alec gives him a glare. 

“-gooey situation? So, we going home?” Rafe quickly distracts them. 

“We will,” Alec replies, looking at Max, “If you brother comes around.”

“I don’t think he wants to be seen with us…” Magnus says, just as Rafe sits down to take his skates off.

“I texted him, he said he’s going to directly portal back home, so we just need to tell him when we’re leaving.” He tells them. “So much for family time,” he adds sarcastically. 

Magnus shakes his head with a smile. “Let him be. We can always have a movie night together, later.”

“And I’ll get to choose the movie because _I won the race,”_ Rafe almost sing-songs.

“Only because your dad is hot,” Magnus retorts, like they’re having a contest.

Alec huffs. “Leave me out of this. And the birthday boy will choose the movie. Come on now, text him that we’re leaving.” 

Rafe rolls his eyes, texting on his phone. “okay, _TMI."_ he says to his papa and Magnus shrugs as if what he said was a fact, which it is - Alec is hot. 

They see Max take out his phone and check it, and Alec tugs Magnus towards the exit, Rafe following suit.

“Everything okay?” Fill asks him and Max looks up from his phone, from the corner of his eye he can see his family moving towards the exit, Rafe giving him a grin as he walks away. 

Fill has a soft smile on his face, pink soft lips tugged up. His freckles are scattered all over and his green eyes are glinting, his curls falling on his forehead. Max can’t help but stare at him, he feels like he could do that for ages.

“Um, yeah, I just have to get going now. I have… to be at my Institute tomorrow so...” Max tells him reluctantly. He’s had a great time with Fill so far and he might have forgotten about his family at some point in time.

He can see Fill’s smile falter a little bit and it makes his stomach do a flip. “Oh, okay. Got to go when the _New York Institute_ calls,” Fill replies cheekily, behind all the flirting, he still seems so hyped out whenever talking about the institute. He gets up from the bench now and offers a hand to help Max up, too. “Skate you to the gate?” Fill’s tone is flirtatious as he nods towards the edge of the rink. 

Max releases a small chuckle. “Yeah, okay.”

Fill’s hand goes around Max’s arm as they resume to skate side-by-side, Fill saying “Still need a little help here, though.” 

Max can feel his face heat up at the proximity but he doesn’t say anything, obviously, and it takes them just a few minutes to get to the gate with their slow pace. 

“Have a safe journey back home, Alexander,” Fill says, leaning against the gate as Max steps out of the rink.

“Huh?” Max says, looking around in search of his dad.

Fills gives him a weird look and then very slowly, looks him up and down. “That’s your name, right?”

Max almost facepalms, but he just lets out a very awkward laugh and replies with “Right, um, yes. It’s just that people usually call me Alex.” He should really stop talking, but somehow, he can’t.

Fill tilts his head, scrunching up his nose a little, it makes his cheeks puff up. “Okay, _Alex.”_

“So… you’re just going to stay here?” Max asks, not wanting to leave their conversation yet.

“I think…” Fill’s eyes dart to the food counter. “I’ll probably have a snack and leave, in a bit.” 

Max frowns a little. “Didn’t you just have food?” they literally _just_ finished a plate of lasagna together, and for a fairly-fit-shadowhunter, Fill sure has an appetite.

“It’s _food,_ ” Fill replies as if what Max just asked him was outright atrocious, leaning in as if sharing a sacred secret. “You _never_ deny food. And those cookies are calling me right now.”

Max can see the flecks of dark green in the guy’s eyes, he can almost count all of his freckles individually. “Okay.” Max replies, chokes out, abruptly to Fill’s face.

“Okay, then,” Fill chuckles, leaning back, hands on the railings and he slides over the ice. “If our fate agrees, maybe we’ll meet again, Alex.”

He gives Max a wink as he starts to skate backwards on the ice with perfect balance and grace. A mischievous grin on his face as he does a toe loop.

_Oh._

_He knew how to skate._

Max realizes his mouth is agape and he quickly closes it, his face heating up. He can feel the warmth spread all over his body though, and when Fill waves at him, instead of waving back, he quickly turns and rushes towards the exit.

It’s when he’s stepping inside a portal that he realizes - _he forgot to ask for Fill’s number._

Well, Fill did say he was leaving back for the Paris Institute tomorrow so _what’s the point?_

Guess it really depends on their fate.

“Ah, you remember home,” Rafe says as Max enters the loft. “Do you remember me? Oh, do you remember your last name?”

“Shut up, Rafe” 

“I’m confused,” Magnus now says from the couch, “Are we not invisible anymore?”

“I don’t know, Magnus,” Alec chimes in. “Max, how many fingers am I holding up?” He raises his hand to show him two fingers and Max’s mouth goes into a hard line.

Max sighs. “I’m sorry, guys. Please don’t be mad” he says, sulky

“Aw, is the lover boy feeling guilty?” Rafe asks. “As you should.”

“Rafael, come on now. It was about Max’s birthday, after all, and he seemed to be having a good time.” Magnus tells their eldest son.

“That’s another conversation that we won’t have.” Max points to Magnus, who feigns hurt. 

“We’re not mad, Max, but you pretend not to know us for the whole time there and you won’t even tell us who that boy was?” Alec asks now, crossing his arms. 

“Yeah, Max,” Rafe says, sitting on the couch too and looking for the remote, “Who’s your boyfriend you ditched us for?”

Max throws his hands up. “I don’t have one.”

Alec goes over to the kitchen to start the coffee machine when Magnus lets out a yawn. 

“At least give us something. Was it worth pretending you’re not one of us?” Rafael asks him, trying to guilt trip him again. “One of the _Lightwood-Banes_ who changed the whole shadow world?” 

It works, because Max says “It doesn’t matter, I didn’t even get his number.” 

“Oh, did he turn you down?” Rafe asks now, his attention going to Max as he sets the remote down. He turns in his seat on the couch, trying to get a read on Max. His tone immediately flips to a little protective, he’s been that way with Max ever since… Alan.

“Um, not exactly.” Max tells them, going over to Alec to get the first cup of coffee, but Alec moves it out of his reach.

“What do you mean?” Alec asks, handing Max another mug and moves to Magnus with the first one, and the warlock gratefully accepts it. 

They can see the blush creep up on Max’s face as he turns his back to them. “I never asked…” 

“Oh, Blueberry,” Magnus now says, “You’re just like your dad.” 

Max sighs, plopping down on the couch between Alec and Magnus. “I’m sorry, I know I said I wanted _us_ to be together and spend family time. I saw your race too--”

Magnus kisses the top of Max’s head, Alec’s arm reaching behind his head so both of the warlocks can pillow it. “It’s alright, Maxie, I’m just glad that you enjoyed your time there.”

“And don’t worry about them, they had _fun_ too…” Rafe says, settling down on the floor in front of Max’s legs. Then shrugs when Alec and Magnus give him a look. “What? I saw you guys _disappear_ in the restrooms for 15 full minutes.”

“By the Angel, seriously?” Max gives Alec and Magnus a disgusted look. “Raziel, you guys…”

“Okay-okay, we just, ugh, I sprained my ankle so your papa was checking on it...” Alec tries to comment, it came out more like a question. Magnus patted his arm sympathetically.

“Oh?” Rafe says, stretching out his legs in front of him, “So it’s not called ‘checking the perimeter’ anymore? It’s ‘I sprained my ankle’ this week?”

“Rafa, you wound us,” Magnus says, “‘checking the perimeter’ is 2 decades old.”

Max lets out a snort at that, but Alec glares at both of them.

“We may not be able to ground you anymore but we can give you extra patrols at night.” Alec tells Rafael, who shifts so he can look at his dad.

“Is the Inquisitor even allowed to use his position to just threaten people?” he asks and Max laughs out loud now.

“What about you, did you have fun?” Max now turns to Rafe.

Rafe shrugs. “I beat papa, so well, one of the best days of my life”

“I’m glad my losing makes you so happy,” Magnus tells him, slightly unhappy himself.

Alec leans over and ruffles Rafe’s hair, which he unsuccessfully ducks. “Just pick a movie.”

“We’re bingeing _Avatar: The Last Airbender_ now,” Rafe says, it’s not a movie but a series, but they can all tell that Rafe’s choice wasn’t entirely his own - he would’ve probably picked a horror movie but none of them say a word as Rafe clicks on the series, that Max loves so much. 

When Magnus snaps his fingers, they have various snacks and drinks on the table before them and blankets appear on the couch. Max takes one and then slides down to the floor next to Rafe, taking one box of popcorn and offers it to his brother.

Magnus scoots closer to Alec, letting the blanket cover them both completely and leans his head onto the shadowhunters shoulder.

As the music starts, Rafe is staring at the screen intently, but Max feels him lean towards him as Rafe whispers, in his ‘big protective brother’ voice, “Did you really have fun with _Curly_?”

“Curly?’ Max whispers-asks.

“Yeah, you know, the boy,” Rafe replies, eyes fixed on Max, studying his face. “Or do I need to break his fac--”

“I did, Rafe.” Max tells him, smiling slightly. Rafe is looking at him, a question clear on his face 

_Not another Alan?_

“Not another Alan.” Max answers.

 _“Eso es bueno escuchar,”_ Rafe reaches his arm out, wrapping his around Max’s arms, and Max leans into it. They don’t cuddle like this often, this is meant for meaningful times, just like right now. When they all are together. One happy family.

“You love me so much, don’t you?” Max jokes, poking Rafe’s ribs.

Rafe huffs, slapping Max’s hand away with his free hand. Though he mutters, “of course I do, dumbass.” 

Hearing the whispers, Magnus slowly looks up at Alec, eyes shining. 

Alec smiles at him. “Another great day of parenting.”

Magnus chuckles, coming closer to snuggle in Alec’s chest. “Another great day of being parents.”

**Author's Note:**

> So, this was supposed to be a clean fic, we just wanted to introduce our lovely OC - Fill (Find him [here](https://arsistiel.tumblr.com/post/634048315940651008/oc-1-fill) , @lady_koalart on Instagram brought him to life and oh my god, we can’t thank you enough for that, Koala) (You guys have met him before here and there but this is like the… official meet so - yay!). I don't know what happened, don’t look at me, ask Jo (Sure, blame me for this ~Jo). ~Atlas
> 
> @arsistiel on twitter/twt/insta
> 
> Another great day of co-writing, if you can call screaming at each other constantly co-writing. We had a lot of Joshcell moments, okay? You have now met one of our OC’s, congratulations. Also, regarding on what the hell happened to his fic, I don’t know, okay? It’s not my fault that when Arsis said ‘smut?’ (tf I didn’t ~Atlas) I said, ‘Hell yeah’. Anyways, it’s still family fluff, so be happy about that. ~Jo
> 
> My fellow Yees and Haws, for those of you who don't know me (which is basically everyone) - I do write other fics too so ya'll can check them out;  
> Wattpad: WarmthOfRain  
> And you can also find me here;  
> Instagram: warmthofrain  
> Tumblr: malecbaby  
> Twitter: rain_warmth  
> Thanks for putting up with this chaotic mess (you know you love it)!
> 
> [All mistakes are ours]


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